Posts Tagged ‘school

We are entering a new, scary time in our family….dealing with public school and public school systems. D will be 3 in a few weeks. Back in October, he had his evaluation for public preschool. In Kentucky, you have to qualify in one area for a special need in order to qualify for public preschool and additional support services.

I was extremely disappointed in the way his evaluation was conducted. I was originally told it would be a 1.5 hour session, and we would need to come back to complete the other half. It turned into an almost 4 hour ordeal in which my 2 year 9 month old had assessments for OT, Speech, PT, and an IQ/Psychological evaluation.

The school psychologist was late, and so OT, Speech and PT were first. By the time he got to the final portion he was exhausted, and it was lunchtime. Why did I let it go on? I don’t really have an answer for that. I think partly, it’s because so many of our (his dad & I) concerns for him have dealt with gross and fine motor issues.

Today, I received an IQ report that says he is mildly delayed and low below average, but not enough to qualify for services. That his score will probably impact him during his school age years, but not severely.

I just don’t see this. And his Early Intervention lead was in the meeting and agrees with me. So then my husband asked the best series of questions, how does this report impact him? Where is it stored? Who can access it? Do they need our permission?

I don’t really care about D’s IQ. I think standardized tests can be a tool, but for the most part it is just a snapshot of that day and how the person was performing.

We just want to help him the best we can. We are concerned that we have focused too much on motor and not enough on cognitive. And then I think that’s the preemie parent in us. We’re always searching for answers that aren’t there. We’re always wondering what we may have done wrong.

We just want to make sure we give him every opportunity to be the Drake he wants to be. That’s enough for us.

It’s been a rough week. Yesterday, we got some scary news at Ophthalmology follow up, too. Eye doc saw something very concerning, but D won’t be big enough for the pictures to fully diagnose and check it out until next year. I wish I didn’t even know about it. I need to find some new coping mechanisms for staying out of anxiety loops.

I have had a rough week. Drake being so sick from his cold/ear weighs heavily on me, and I had a bout with anxiety on Monday when I took him for his new AFO measurements. The orthotist was in the same building as my OB and Maternal Fetal group. That was a big wake up call for me.

I have not been as good about praying, writing in my journal, or going to the gym as I had been over the winter. I actually did write a post about the panic attack, but I switched it to private. I need to make sure I take care of me and my mental health. I think I feel guilty for my feelings now where I used to just feel guilty that he came early. He is doing amazing. I feel like I don’t have the right to be crazy about the past anymore. I do know that is silly. We feel how we feel. All you can do is figure out how to wade through it and not get bogged down.

I hope that I can get everything back to a firm middle ground because I received news I had been waiting for. I have been accepted into an masters program, and now I have been given the green light to start my orientation period next week. This is a 14 year old goal of mine, and I really think Drake has given me the courage to pursue it. I do worry whether I can keep my little universe running smoothly, but I know my family is on my side and we can move mountains!

My six month goals are:

1. Teach Drake to raise up on his toes and the awesome gross motor things that follow.

2. Go to the gym on my regular schedule and check in with my trainer once a week. The long term goal is to get off some medicine I’m on, and just be healthy.

3. Enjoy my studies. This program will involve a lot of analysis and a lot of writing. I’m nervous about re-entering the academic world after a 14 year hiatus, but I remember how much I used to love it.

4. Go to Disney World. We have our first real family vacation planned for October. I am so excited, and we are carefully planning all our Orlando/Space Coast fun. 2 days at various Disney things, a trip to Kennedy Space Center, and a day at the beach!

I was in AFJROTC in high school, and we made many, many trips to the Houston Space Center. It has always fascinated me, and I can’t wait to see the other NASA facility and share it with Drake and the hubby. Keith and I first visited Orlando in 2009. We made the drive to and watch a shuttle launch offsite We even got certificates that have our names and the date as witnessing a shuttle launch.

Drake has been sick since early Sunday. He finished a round of the pink stuff, and 4 days later the cough was back. I put in a call to his pediatrician who advised a wait and see for a few days unless his condition worsened.

It is week of the young child at his school, so his teachers have planned a lot of fun special activities for the students. They had a trike-a-thon for St. Jude with bike safety scheduled for Tuesday, a pizza and ice cream party on Wednesday, a magician for Thursday, and a teddy bear picnic Friday. Drake usually attends on Wednesday/Thursday only, but they told me we could drop by for the other events if I wanted.

Tuesday, the fever was gone, but the cough was still in scary gross stage and it was damp so I kept him home. Wednesday he was a 98.4, chipper, and asking to go for “cream” so I took him to school. At 11:45, I got a call that he was saying his ear hurt in back and his temp was back up to 102. So I picked him up and got him into the ped’s office. Yep, 1st ear infection. 😦

Still feverish and snuggly today, but doing a bit better. It does make me think of that year in isolation and all the firsts.

I know it happens once in a while to all kids though. My brother broke out in chicken pox the day of the 1st grade zoo trip. I had a stomach virus in 8th grade when I was supposed to get to travel to Dallas with my enrichment class to see Phantom of the Opera.

At least, he’s too little to know he missed much. Like the Cubbies, there’s always next year!